The Fire Walker (8 page)

"What about you? Was the band always your dream?"

"Yes." There wasn't anything else to say.

"Just like that?"

"Just like that." Seemed like we both knew exactly what we wanted in life and that turned me on more than I knew it would. Jessie seemed very driven and focused on her career, so much so it was a little intimidating. "What's your tattoo?" I asked, letting my eyes run over her arm.

"Flowers," she said. "Honeysuckle and butterflies."

"And the other one?"

She fingered the collar of her shirt, pulling it aside so I could see, sending my body into overdrive. "It's a skull and cross bones," she laughed as I took in the ink over her heart. "Very original. What are yours?"

"Sugar skulls, pinups, stars, spider webs. You know, bloke tattoos." She laughed at my abrupt description. "What?"

"I like how you say,
bloke
. You sound very Australian when you say it.
Bloke.
" She tried to mimic my accent without much success. She just sounded more French, which drew me in even more.

I felt a grin spread across my face. I liked her. I really fucking liked her. It was way more than a physical thing and I found myself hoping that she felt it too. Who cared if she lived in New York and I lived in Melbourne? Who cared. I'd make it work for a girl like Jessie.

"Oh, shit," she said, looking at her watch. "It's getting late and I have a meeting tomorrow."

"Oh." I tried not to sound disappointed. I wasn't ready to let her go yet. It felt like I'd hardly scratched the surface.

I paid for dinner and walked her to her door like the gentleman I was and I was about to say goodnight and sneak a kiss on her cheek when she came out with a cracker.

"Why'd you ask me out?"

She was looking at me with her big beautiful eyes and I just had to say it.

"Because," I waved my hand between us. "There was something there."

"Was?"

"Is."

"Oh." She fumbled for her keycard and slid it into the lock, the little light flashing green. Before it closed behind her she gave me a small smile. "Thanks for dinner."

"You're welcome."

The door closed between us and I wondered if I'd said the wrong thing. Backing away down the hall, a part of me that I didn't want to acknowledge knew that I had.

Lying on the hard hotel bed, the only thing I could think about was Dee fucking Cosgrove. And I didn't like to swear. Dee had this thing about him that went with the word 'fucking' and it was exactly how it sounded.

He was just a nice, sweet guy. Total opposite from the whole rock star man-whore stereotype. Still, my thoughts went to that place. You know the one where he had me up against the wall, hands in all the right places, saying incredibly dirty things to me? Yeah, that one.

My cell started ringing and vibrating across the bedside table. I looked over with a groan at the late hour and saw the name on the screen and to my surprise my heart skipped a beat. It was Dee. We'd exchanged numbers last night at the gig and I wondered if it had been a good idea. It had only been an hour since he left and I wondered what his game was. I took a deep breath and picked up the cell, trying to squash down my dirty thoughts.

"You know I'm only two floors down," I said and instantly regretted it. I couldn't see him right now because I'd ask him to do me against the wall.

"I know, but I'm old-fashioned like that."

"Like what?"

"If I showed up on your doorstep in the middle of the night you'd think I was only there for one thing."

"Oh." I squeezed my legs together and was glad he was on the phone and not on the edge of my bed.

"You weren't sleeping were you?"

"No." How could I sleep when I was thinking about him all god damn night?

I heard him chuckle and my face reddened.

"What do you want?" It came out defensive.

"I just wanted to talk," he said slowly. "I like talking to you."

"I'm sorry," I said, rubbing my eyes. "its just guys usually want to talk to me for one reason."

"Sex?" He asked so outright it almost made me choke. "It's okay, Jessie. I don't just want to talk about sex."

What more could he possibly want to know? I mean, I hadn't known him for very long and some things would always remain buried inside me. Who didn't have complicated, scarring relationships these days? I had someone who'd hurt me beyond repair and he probably did, too.

"Then what do you want to talk about?" I asked quietly.

"Anything. I don't care."

He was into me. Of course I knew it, it was in everything he did, every word he spoke was laced with sex. My body wanted it, but my mind was apprehensive. But, after all his wicked and sweet words, he hadn't tried it on once. He said before that he was old-fashioned; I felt like I was living in the nineteen-twenties when he was around. How was he not taken?

"You want to talk about anything?" I asked. "That's a wide range of topics."

"I know, I just want to hear your voice." And then he says things like that.

"How did you start playing guitar?" I asked, ignoring his blatant comment.

"Well," he said slowly. "I went to a public high school. They didn't have any sports teams or anything like that. They were lucky to have a music program and even then students had to pay to take lessons. I conned my parents into letting me learn guitar. One, because chicks dig guys with guitars…" I let out a laugh at his lame joke. "…and two, because I wanted to get out of class."

"Really?" He didn't seem like the kind of guy who'd skip out on anything.

"Honestly?"

"Yes, honestly."

"True story."

"What about now?"

"Now? I'm glad I wanted to get out of class."

I closed my eyes and let his sexy Australian accent wash over me. I didn't want to put my cell on speaker. I wanted to press it right against my ear, like he was whispering to me. Like his lips were against my skin...

"Jessie? Are you still there?"

Shit. "Yeah."

"What were you thinking about?" he asked wickedly, like he knew.

"Tomorrow," I replied quickly.

"What's tomorrow?"

"It's my last day in LA before I have to go home."

"To New York?"

"Yeah."

"What are you doing?"

I knew what he was trying to do. Worm his way even further into my life so I couldn't say no. "I have a meeting at the Galaxy office in the morning."

"What about the arvo?"

I gathered arvo meant afternoon and I knew he had me. "I don't know."

"I'm taking you to the beach."

"Are you just?" I scoffed playfully.

"C'mon Jessie." The way he said my name made me squirm. "We can go to the beach, hangout, have some dinner."

"I don't know…" I began, but he interrupted me.

"No expectations."

No expectations? Before I could back out, I said, "Pick me up at the hotel at three."

And just like that, I flung myself further down the rabbit hole.

It might've been forward to call Jessie like I had, but after that fizzer of a date I couldn't just leave it. Yeah, I guess we had a good time and all, but it was just hanging out. Being with her was more than hanging out for me. I had no idea how to show it without it ending the same way as every other relationship I'd had. With the 'it's me not you' speech.

Over the phone it had taken away that physical attraction and I could just talk to her without all of that getting in the way. I was glad I'd grown some balls, because I was taking her out again this afternoon.

My phone buzzed with a text and I laughed when I saw the message from Zoe.

We're going to Disneyland. Wanna come?

Zoe and Disneyland were two things that didn't seem to mesh well.

I texted back,
I think I'll be right. Got stuff to do.

What stuff?

Just stuff.

Oooookkkkkkaaaayyyy. *winkwink*

When three pm rolled around, I stood outside Jessie's door staring at the number again.
Get a grip, Cosgrove
, I scolded myself. Knocking, the door opened a moment later.

"Hey," Jessie said brightly.

She was wearing these little denim short shorts and my eyes glued to her legs, imagining them around my waist.

"Up here," she laughed.

"Sorry." The moment she turned her back, I adjusted the front of my jeans.

"You're punctual, I'll give you that." She shoved her phone into her pocket and closed the door behind her.

"If I say I'm gunna do something. I do it."

"Wow."

"Wow, what?"

"A guy who does the stuff he says he's going to. That's a rare beast."

I grinned, pressing the button to the elevator.

"Where are we going?"

"Venice beach." I shrugged.

"Venice beach?"

"I don't know any others."

"No, sounds fun, actually. I'm sure there's lots to do."

Because I didn't have a car or wanted to subject Jessie to public transport, the doorman hailed a taxi for us out the front of the hotel. I didn't mind paying. We slid into the backseat and the driver took off at breakneck speed. Jessie didn't bat an eyelid, so I assumed this was normal for a cabbie.

"How was work today?" I asked to break the silence.

"Oh, it was okay. Pretty boring, actually."

"What do you do exactly?"

"Well, being the intern, I get to do all the exciting stuff. Like take minutes, get coffee. You know, all the important decisions fall on my shoulders."

"Without you the entire label would crumble."

"Something like that," she grinned.

Before long, the taxi pulled up at the beach and we wandered down to the sand. Jessie bent down and pulled off her boots and sunk her bare feet into the sand, curling her toes.

"Oh man," she sighed. "This feels nice."

I followed suit, yanking off my own boots and let the warm sand trickle between my toes. "Let's go down to the water."

Walking along the beach with Jessie was nice. It felt right, being here with her.

"It reminds me a little of the beaches up Queensland," I said. "Wide, long, white sand. If you can ignore the city at your back, that is."

"Do you surf?" she asked and I made a face, my toes curling in the sand.

"Not everyone from Australia surfs."

"Why not?"

"Firstly, it's a stereotype and secondly, I live in Melbourne. It's not really the center for seaside living."

"What's it like in Melbourne?" I loved the way she said Melbourne. Sounding out all the letters.

"Well, to be a Melbourne-ite you need to say it the right way. It's Mel-
bin
."

"But it's not spelt that way," she huffed, putting her hands on her hips.

"To be an Aussie you need to drop eighty percent of your letters and make up the rest."

"You do say some strange things," she tiptoed out into the water, her boots in her arms.

"Like what? Give me an example."

"Arvo. What's an arvo? I gather you mean the afternoon."

I laughed, following her to the edge of the water, the tips of the waves running up the shoreline covering our feet. Every time it receded, it would drag the sand out from underneath me, my feet sinking further and further under.

"And sunnies. Everything seems to end in an 'ie' or a 'o' like you can't be bothered saying the entire word."

"It's not that I can't be bothered. It's a laid back thing." I kicked some water and it splashed against her legs.

"
Hey
." She kicked back, splattering water and sand all over my legs and rolled up jeans.

"Hey, these are my last clean pair of jeans," I exclaimed and ran forward, picking her up around the waist and spinning her around. "I'll dump you in."

Jessie let out an excited squeal of laughter, her fingers digging into my shoulders. "You wouldn't dare."

"Oh, yeah?" I let her slip a little in my grasp and she shrieked again, but my expression fell the instant I realized her face was mere inches from mine and I had her pressed up against my chest. Perfect kiss moment, but I set her down and stepped away. Why the hell did I just do that?